Chapter 13: Home but not...

"Urgh..." I groaned as I woke up, feeling like Akeno's Holy Lightning had hit me at point-blank range. 

What happened? I wondered while trying to open my eyes. After some time trying and failing to do so, I tried to move my body, but I only managed to do a minuscule twitch of my fingers.

I started to panic while thinking of the worst possible scenarios before I remembered the moments before I lost consciousness. 

I was going through Uncle Azazel's different devices in order to find his energy reader, and I found something resembling a Rubik's cube.

It all came back.

Something happened, and the cube released a surge of purple lightning at me.

The panic was replaced with annoyance that turned into slight anger. When I can move my body, I will punch him in the face for storing it in a box with junk, something so unstable, instead of having it in a secure place.

But where am I?

I can't move my body or even open my eyes, but this doesn't feel like a bed or even have the medical smell of a hospital.

No. Instead, this smells like? I paused and sniffed my surroundings. Why does it smell like nature, and why does it feel like I'm laying on grass? 

If I find out he dumped me outside, forget just punching him! I needed someone to test my armor, and doing it while trying to kill him would be the best option!

After cursing him for some time, I took a deep breath and tried to relax. My ability to move and open my eyes started to return to me slowly, and I could clearly see the starry night sky above me.

I'm really outside... That old, perverted bastard really left me outside!

After what I thought was ten minutes, I could again move normally, though a bit stiffly. It reminded me of the time I spent with the Pendragon siblings, but not as bad.

I looked around the area I was in, and it didn't take long for me to recognize where I was. This place isn't that far from home. 

Without thinking about possibly being dumped here by Uncle Azazel for some reason, I started walking home because I didn't feel like dealing with it without getting in some sleep. 

I don't know how long I was unconscious, but I still felt tired. 

But I didn't make it that far before I unknowingly kicked something, and looking down, I saw it was the cube. Did he leave me with the cube? 

I actually picked up the cube; after it didn't do anything for a minute, I decided to store it in my storage rune and go home.

After less than ten minutes of walking, I arrived home and tried to open the door, but it was locked.

"Strange," I muttered, as normally the door would be left unlocked if someone was home and we didn't go to sleep, but it was locked. 

Taking out my key, I unlocked the door and went inside. The lights were off, and the air inside felt different for some reason. 

Maybe Mom needed to stay in Heaven longer, and that's why she wasn't home. 

Turning on the light, I instantly knew something was off. The place looked like it hadn't been cleaned for years. 

"What's going on?" I said, closing the door behind me and slowly checking everything while also being ready to draw out my swords.

There is something wrong with this place.

After checking every room, it was all the same. It was like no one was living here for years now. 

The last room I checked was my own room, and when I opened the door, I couldn't help but widen my eyes in surprise. 

I should have probably expected this after seeing the rest of the house, but it was hard to believe. It looked exactly the same as it used to back when I was ten. 

"If this is some kind of joke everyone is in on, it's not funny," I said if by any chance they were hiding around here.

But I didn't hear anything, so I frowned. I needed to get answers, and who better to ask than the person responsible for this?

Taking out my phone, I went into my contacts to find Uncle Azazel's number before quickly dialing him.

I could hear the first signal and then the second before the third, "What is taking him so long to pick up?" I muttered, irritated.

Thankfully, after a while, he answered.

[Hello? Who is this?] Came his voice from the other side of the phone.

Hearing what he said, my eyes twitched, "Who else can this be? Now tell me what that cube did, and why did you leave me outside in the middle of the night!?" I snapped at him.

There was a long pause before he replied, [Who is this?] He asked again.

I was close to breaking the phone as my anger rose hearing him act like this, "This isn't funny! Stop pretending you don't know who I am and answer the question!" 

I quickly took a deep breath to calm down, but it didn't last long. 

[I don't know who you are, kid. You must have gotten the wrong number. I'm hanging up.]

I didn't care anymore and shouted at him, "Stop with the stupid games, Azazel! I don't know what the fuck that invention of yours did and why everything is different, but the next time I see you, I will stab you at least once!" 

There was another long pause, and I could see he didn't hang up. 

[What's your name?] 

He asked for the third time. I started imagining hundreds of different ways I could torture him, "Who else could it be!? It's me, Elijah; you have my number saved in your contacts!"

There was yet another long pause before he said something that made me freeze.

[Elijah has been dead for four years.]

"W-What?" I asked, not knowing what was going on, "What are you talking about? How could I be dead? If this is yet another of your pranks, it's awful."

I could hear him mumble something on the other side, but the quality wasn't good enough for me to understand what he said.

[Where are you?] He asked after some time.

"Home," I replied flatly.

[Don't go anywhere. I will be there in a moment.] He said and then hung up.

It didn't even take five minutes before I saw a teleportation magic circle form in the living room and out stepped Azazel. 

I looked at him with a frown, waiting for answers while he looked at me as if he was seeing a ghost.

"Care to explain why everything looks like this?" I asked with crossed arms.

"You look like him, but that's not possible." He said, and I couldn't help but frown at it.

"What are you talking about, and why did you say I was dead?" I asked.

"You can't be him. I saw Elijah die and saw his body being buried." He said, looking like he was about to attack me.

"What do you mean I died?" I may have died twice in this life, but I still had five lives before I would be down for good. But he said he saw me being buried, and that face didn't look like he was pulling a prank on me, "Explain how I died."

"Who's your mother?" He asked.

Why is he asking me that? "Gabriel." I still replied.

"What was the present I got you for your fourth birthday?"

"A book about light magic." 

"Now answer the last one. What did you ask me to make for you?"

"A storage ring and two blades you couldn't make." 

He seemed to relax a bit, "I still need a blood sample to confirm it." 

"Can you explain why you are acting like this now?" I really wanted to know because the only theory I had was that I somehow traveled to a parallel dimension.

"When the Old Satan Faction attacked this place four years ago, by the time we arrived here, both Shuri and Elijah were dead," He said and then looked at me, "So how are you alive?"

"Dead?" I asked, "Both I and Akeno were teleported away while Aunt Shuri was in a coma." I said, and we looked at each other.

I think my theory was actually right.

"Could it be?"

"Don't tell me..." 

It seems we both had the same idea but different thoughts about it.

"Tell me how you got here." 

"You asked me to get an energy reader from a box with junk, and after I picked this up, it discharged purple lightning at me. The next thing I know, I wake up outside, and apparently, I've been dead for four years..." I said while taking out the cube from my storage rune, "The only thing I can think of is that I somehow traveled to a parallel universe where I died during the attack. Even so, my Sacred Gear should saved me unless I didn't have it in this world." 

If that's the case, how do I get back home? The cube doesn't seem to work anymore.

Uncle Azazel inspected the cube, and a frown appeared, "This just looks like a normal metal cube." 

"I don't know how it activated and if it still works, but can you fix it? I need to get back to my world." I said with slight hope.

"I don't know, but for now, I see other problems with you being here." 

"What-" I was about to say but stopped myself. I didn't think about it before, but if I died in this world, "What happened to my mother after I died?" I asked.

He looked like he didn't want to answer the question but sighed, "After you died, she fell. Currently, she is working as one of the leaders of Grigori."

The moment he said it, I didn't know what to feel. I knew she wasn't my mother, but at the same time, she still is my mother, so her falling and everything she was going through, and maybe still is because of my death, made me feel so many emotions it was confusing.

"Do you want to meet her?" He asked.

"No!" I instantly answered, "The dead should stay dead, and seeing me will only make it worse when I leave." I replied. 

It was the truth, but at the same time, I was scared.

"Are you sure about that?" He asked and tried to make me reconsider it.

"In the end, if the roles were reversed, I wouldn't want to see my own mother and then find out that she isn't really her and then see her leave," I replied with a sigh.

The quicker I can leave this place, the better.

"Can you make me something to change my appearance, just in case?"

He sighed, seeing I wouldn't change my mind, "Sure, I should have one in my lab." He said before teleporting us to his lab.

The light blinded me, and when it faded, I was in the same lab I spent so much time making my armor. I instantly looked over to where the box I found the cube in used to be, only to not see any box at all.

Uncle Azazel searched for something before returning with a bracelet, "Put this on, and send a pulse of mana while thinking of your eye and hair color to activate it."

I nodded while taking the bracelet and putting it on. While it's not what I thought, it's better than nothing. 

Then what color should I choose? I wondered and, after a while, decided what I should go with.

Sending a pulse of mana to activate the disguise bracelet, I felt a small gust of mana around my face.

"Did it work?" I asked.

"See for yourself." Uncle Azazel replied, giving me a mirror.

I quickly took it and saw the changes. While my face looked exactly the same, my blonde hair changed to black, and my golden eyes changed to violet.

I don't look that bad this way.

Now that my appearance had changed, I looked at Uncle Azazel, "So how do I get back?" I asked.

"I have some theories. I haven't seen this cube. It isn't something I made or something I would make. Did anything happen before or after you touched it?" He asked.

I thought about it for a moment. Him not being the Azazel I knew, and after I leave, I wouldn't see him again, made it easier for me to share things I wouldn't tell him otherwise.

"When I touched it, I felt a heat on my back similar to how it feels when I use the rune of destruction, but at the same time, it felt different... new."

"Rune of destruction?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's something I gained some time ago," I replied, not going into details.

Could this cube have something to do with the demon and my curse? But for it to be possible, this cube would need to be from my previous world, and I don't know how it would get here.

But why would it send me to a world where I died during that attack? It doesn't make sense.

"What does the rune of destruction do?" Uncle Azazel asked, interested.

"It summons purple flames capable of reducing everything to nothing," I replied.

"Hmmm..." He hummed, "So, an angel with a power similar to the Bael Clan's Power of Destruction." 

"It wasn't something I was born with but gained it, and I don't know how I did it," I said so he wouldn't think more about it and focus on how to get me the hell out of here.

Before he could say anything, we heard a series of angry knocks on the door before the door slammed open, and I had a hard time believing the person who had entered.

She looked exactly the same, but her expression was something I hadn't seen or ever would have thought to see on my mother.

"Azazel, if you leave more paperwork for me again, then I will-" She yelled in anger with a stack of papers in her hand but stopped seeing me.

I just hoped she wouldn't recognize me while having changed the color of my hair and eyes while also being a few years older.

"E-" She started, but Uncle Azazel saved me.

"Oh, Gabriel, it can wait for a while. This magician has a problem I'm very interested in helping with." Uncle Azazel said, but she ignored him and started walking towards me.

Shit!

With nothing else in mind, I tried to do something I found out over the years while trying to learn magic. Quickly but still cautiously so she wouldn't feel the mana I was going to use, I felt a sharp pain, and a moment later, I coughed out blood.

Quickly covering my mouth with my hand and with the blood dripping down my hand, I turned around so she could see it.

I saw her walk towards me with concern, "I'm sorry, Miss Gabriel, but due to an incident, my internal magic power became unstable, and that's why I'm here." I said before widening my eyes slightly, "I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself. I'm," I quickly looked at the poster on the wall, "Luke." 

I didn't think of a name before, so seeing the Star Wars poster on the wall made me say Luke.

"I could wait here until he is done with everything. I'm not in a hurry." I added.

"No, no. It's fine. I will take care of the paperwork for him." She said, still looking at me. Her eyes didn't leave me for a long time before she quickly turned around and left. 

After she left, I could see the questioning gaze of Uncle Azazel, "You really don't want her to find out who you are?" He asked, looking at the blood on my hand.

"I really don't," I replied before wiping the blood off my hand and mouth with paper towels before throwing it into the trash.

"You know, unlike before, if she saw someone cough out blood now, she wouldn't even care about it, but she did for you right now." He said and sighed.

"The faster I can leave this place and return home, the better. If I'm dead in this world, then I should stay dead, and the fewer people that know about me being here, the better." I said, trying not to think about it, but there was something I needed to ask about the change in my mother or this world's version of my mother. "Is her change due to my death?" I asked. 

"What else would the change be? She didn't even fall after the war when..." He stopped.

I sighed, "I know the truth about Grandpa... or God. I don't even know what exactly to call him."

He looked at me, shocked, and asked, "She told you about it?"

I shook my head, "I figured it out, and she just confirmed it. To be honest, it wasn't that hard to figure out when you see so many angels but not having seen him even once."

"You were always too observant for a kid."

I looked at him, "It's not my fault I'm better than most kids." I said with a small smirk.

At my answer, he seemed curious, "Anyways, while I try to figure out how to get you back, can you tell me what happened after the attack four years ago?"

I sighed, knowing he would ask about something like that: "During the attack, Akeno and I were teleported to the Underworld, where we found mutated beasts, fought our way out, and ended up in England. It took us almost two months to return to Japan. Aside from me disappearing again for a while, nothing special happened until today."

Really, out of everything that could have happened, this wasn't anything I would even consider.

"Really, what's next? Will I be transported to a world without me in it or a world where I was born as a female?" I muttered but loud enough for Azazel to hear.

I heard him chuckle at that, "That would be funny, but the possibility of that happening is as big as you being born as the son of Sirzechs Lucifer."

I frowned upon hearing that, "Why did I get a feeling that you just jinxed me?" I asked.

...

..

.

Hours flew by with Azazel trying to figure out how to activate the cube again. But even with him trying his best, we didn't get even a single response from the cube. It was like the cube was a normal block of metal.

After more than twelve hours, Azazel sighed and looked at me, "It seems we won't be getting anything from it today, so go home and rest; we will continue tomorrow. Gabriel almost never visits that house since," He paused for a moment, "you know... Ekhm. She usually goes there once a year on your birthday, so the house will be empty for a while." He finished.

Then, a teleportation circle formed under me, and the next moment, I was back in the house I had lived in ever since being reincarnated, but everything was so foreign.

I had a hard time falling asleep that night. It may have been the same house, but it wasn't my house.

In the morning, with the disguise still active as I didn't disable it, I was still half asleep and went towards the kitchen, where I heard someone cooking what smelled like my favorite breakfast.

I yawned but then froze midway, realizing I wasn't in my world and there shouldn't be anyone here.

The place looked clean, as if someone had cleaned it just a while ago.

Before I could even turn around and escape, I saw my mother walk out of the kitchen and look at me. 

"S-sorry, Miss Gabriel, Azazel told me this house was abandoned, and I could stay here until he solves my problem..." I said, quickly turning around.

But before I could even fully turn around, she grabbed me by the wrist, "Wait! Azazel wouldn't allow anyone to enter this house without my permission. Turn around and let me see your face." She said in a serious and slightly threatening tone.

"I'm sorry for staying here. I truly am. I won't come here again." I said, trying to get out of her grip, but she didn't budge. 

I knew I couldn't escape her if she didn't allow me. She is much stronger than me, and the only possible way was something I didn't want to use on her.

"Turn around and let me see your face," She said again, but her voice sounded different this time.

With no other choice, I turned around and hoped the disguise would work.

The moment I turned around and saw her face, I saw tears forming, "E-Elijah?" She asked with tears in her eyes.

It hurt me to see her like this even if she wasn't my mother, "M-My name is L-Luke," I said, but the stutter made it obvious I was lying.

She looked at the wrist she was holding and the disguise bracelet.

She took it off.

The moment she did, my eyes and hair returned to their original colors.

Seeing my appearance, she broke down crying and hugged me, "E-Elijah! H-How are you? I saw... I saw..." She cried.

I didn't say anything but hugged her back and let her cry. How could I explain that I'm not really her son but another Gabriel's son who survived the attack and ended up in this world?

After she stopped crying and looked at me with red eyes due to all the crying, I opened my mouth to speak before closing it, and I repeated that for a while as I couldn't find the right words.

"I-I'm s-sorry b-but I'm n-not your son," I finally managed to stutter out.

"W-What?" She said as the tears returned, "B-But..."

"I-I'm not from this world. I somehow ended up in an alternative universe due to Azazel's mistake. A world where I never died that time."

"C-Can't you stay here? Please..." She asked.

"I can't," I shook my head, "I can't leave my mother... the you of my world."

A small, sad, and understanding smile formed on her face before she muttered, "I envy her."

She let me go and wiped the tears, "Could you tell me about your life?"

I also had a sad smile, "Yeah, I can," I replied.

After we sat down, I quickly thought about what to actually tell her, but then I had a thought. There is something I always wanted to tell my mother, but I was too scared to do it in fear.

I could tell her this now, even if she wasn't actually my mother. That's why I decided to tell this world's version of my mother about my reincarnation, and if she hated me... I would still return home, and my mother wouldn't know about it. But if that happens, could I still look at my mother after returning home, knowing she would hate me if she knew?

Taking a deep breath, I began, "There is something I always wanted to tell my mother but was too scared to tell her. I lived my life, not the best one, but still one until one day I died. The day I died was also the day I was born as your son..." I looked at her to see her reaction.

The look on her face told me I should finish everything I wanted to say first, "I still have the memories of my past life. At first, I thought I was brought back in time and reborn to another family, but that wasn't the case. In my world, while it had magic and different creatures, it was different. During that life, I was cursed by a demon, and the curse made me often go berserk. After being reborn, I thought it was gone, but I was wrong. I'm guessing it was supposed to be due to me being a pure angel hybrid, and it returned when I fell or half-fell."

I then started recounting my story from the moment of the attack up until the cube transported me to this world. During the whole time, my mother listened and waited for me to finish before commenting.

"So now that you know everything about me, do you hate me for lying to you? Do you hate me for not really being your son but a reincarnated adult?" I asked, thinking she would despise me for taking the place of her son.

But instead of anger, she hugged me, "You are my son, even if not from this world, and even if you remember the memories of your past life, it doesn't change the fact." She said.

I knew that she wasn't my mother, but I was happy that she didn't hate me. I felt light, having told her everything about me. It was like a weight I didn't know about was lifted from me, and I began crying.

I don't know if I'm ready to tell my mother this just yet, but if it is similar, I'm not that scared anymore.

...

..

.

A few hours later, I saw the teleportation circle appear, and Azazel stepped out, "Yo! I'm here to pick-" He stopped, and his eyes widened seeing me with my mother.

He looked at me, making me sigh, "I guess you told her everything," He said.

I didn't say anything; I just nodded. 

"Well then..." He paused and looked before scratching the back of his head sheepishly, "The cube has been stolen." He said.

"WHAT!" I screamed in anger, slamming both my hands on the table as my mana rushed out of my body, and heat came from the destruction rune from my back.

The next moment, the table burst into purple flames before being devoured until nothing remained, and I continued staring at Azazel, who flinched seeing the flames.

"Elijah!" My mother's yell snapped me out of my anger, and I quickly blocked off my mana, making the flames die down, and me to cough out blood due to the sudden change.

Stumbling slightly due to the backlash of cutting off my mana, I wiped off the blood and looked at him, "What do you mean it was stolen!?" I asked.

"When I entered the lab, it was gone, and when I checked on of my hidden cams I-"

"Who!?" I asked, interrupting him, my voice laced with anger, "Who took it?"

"You see-" He began but was interrupted again, this time by my mother.

"Who took it, Azazel? Don't even try dodging the question like always." She said.

"Kokabiel..." 

That's it! I don't care who that guy is. He took the only thing that would allow me to return home, and he will be punished for it. While he is stronger than me, being a cadre-class fallen with the use of my flames of destruction, I can kill him, but first, I need the cube back.

---

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading this chapter.

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